The national reaction

Florida got the offense it needed. [Tim] Tebow showed anyone who cared to notice he can throw a pro-caliber pass. He also punished Oklahoma with his runs, while Percy Harvin did it with his speed in rushing eight times for 122 yards on a bad ankle.

Then, with Oklahoma driving, it was [Ahmad] Black making the play of the night, taking the ball out of receiver Juaquin Iglesias' hands for the interception.

Oklahoma? It has no excuses. It got the chance to play the game that 13-0 Utah didn't, that one-loss USC and Texas couldn't. It's now lost four consecutive BCS games. Maybe it should play Ohio State next year.

--Dave Hyde,

Sun Sentinel

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Defense ruled the day

Florida turned back Oklahoma 24-14 and the most impressive thing about it was that offensive stars Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin, great as they were, weren't the story of this triumph. Defense was. Florida's finest moments came when its offense was on the sideline, leading the cheers for the marvel unfolding.

--Greg Cote,

Miami Herald

Birth of a dynasty?

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While the word "dynasty" should be reserved for only the most special teams, the Florida Gators just may qualify.

In an era of college football marked by parity and upstart surprises, the Gators have become the pre-eminent program in the land. That became official late Thursday night at Dolphin Stadium as a football game for the national championship turned into a Florida jubilee. . . .

Even as one season ends and a championship is celebrated, the truth is that Florida's run may be a long way from being over.

-- Joe Henderson,

Tampa Tribune

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Tebow leaves no debate

He left the field wearing the most splendid of grass stains, long swaths of green stretching over his shoulders, across his chest, down his back, the badge of a linebacker.

Now check out the number. He is No. 15, but his jersey was tugged and twisted so much, sometimes it looked as if he were No. 11, the wrinkles of a lineman.

Finish with the face. Thick cheeks decorated in eye black, framed by a crew cut, above a tight expression that sweated with intensity, a face of a fighter.

This is Tim Tebow. This is the perfect player who made us forget college football's imperfect system.

The Gators quarterback looks like a Four Horseman, acts like Seven Blocks of Granite, and talks like Knute Rockne.

As the 2008 college football season evolved, the assumption around the country was that the Big 12 had surpassed the Southeastern Conference as the country's premier conference. The teams' flashy play and big scores, it seems now, might have been more an indictment of the league's defenses than a testament to their offenses.

The SEC left little doubt this bowl season that it was still the top league in all of college football.

-- Pete Thamel

The New York Times

Florida shows gumption

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Give the Florida Gators a team they can dominate, and they will mesmerize you with their speed and athletic gifts. Make them work, however, and the Gators will call on the heart and guts that have become the indelible trademark of Urban Meyer's best teams. That's why, for the second time in three seasons, Meyer finished the season cradling a crystal football.

-- Ivan Maisel

ESPN.com

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One of the best ever

We just finished watching one of the best teams in college football history. Really, it's true.

The 2008 Florida Gators deserve a spot in that hallowed pantheon after capping a 13-1 season with a 24-14 victory over Oklahoma in the BCS title game. This Florida squad navigated one of the most ambitious schedules of any national champion, playing 11 teams that went to bowls, and toppling the likes of Miami, LSU, Georgia, Florida State, Alabama and finally an Oklahoma team that had the most prolific offense in college football history.